TENNIS US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS:YANINA WICKMAYER made it a Belgian double in the US Open women's semi-finals as the teenager yesterday joined Kim Clijsters in the last four at Flushing Meadows, in New York.
World number 50 Wickmayer defeated Kateryna Bondarenko, ranked two places below her, 7-5 6-4 after coming from 4-1 down in the second set to win her first grand slam quarter-final.
Wild card Clijsters will next play defending champion and second seed Serena Williams – the only player from the top eight left in the women’s draw – while Wickmayer awaits the winner of the quarter-final between 17-year-old Melanie Oudin of the United States and ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
“Playing semis in a grand slam is great, amazing,” said Wickmayer. “Before this my best was second round, so it’s so exciting, it’s all been amazing.”
It was also 23-year-old Bondarenko’s first appearance in the last eight of a major but Wickmayer adjusted more quickly, breaking the deadlock in a tight first set to go 4-2 up on the way to a one-set lead.
The second set was more of a see-saw affair as the women traded breaks of serve at the start and Bondarenko then broke as Wickmayer sent a drop shot from the baseline into the net, taking a 3-1 lead.
The Belgian seemed to be letting the tension get the better of her, at one point smashing her racquet to the floor and later firing a ball down to the other end of the court in frustration.
Her mood will have darkened even further when Bondarenko saved a break point in the next game and then held serve as a Wickmayer backhand found the net.
Bondarenko, watched in the stands by sister Alona Bondarenko, the ousted number 30 seed, continued to dominate the second set as she earned a break point of her own in the fifth.
Wickmayer saved it but still screamed at herself as she went on to hold serve and the tide began to turn in her favour.
The 19-year-old broke back and at 4-3 down Wickmayer was back on serve and she saved more break points before levelling. It got even better for her as she broke Bondarenko again to serve for the match.
Wickmayer had had trouble closing out the first set but wasted little time securing her semi-final spot.
“I missed a few opportunities so I was pretty mad at myself,” Wickmayer said of her problems early in the second set. But I kept on fighting, kept on hanging in there and I just came back.”
Williams continued her bid to retain her title by beating Italy’s Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-3 in their quarter-final. The defending champion moved into the semi-finals to set up a clash with Clijsters by comprehensively outclassing 10th seed Pennetta.
Williams, who is bidding to win the Flushing Meadows crown for the fourth time, faces Clijsters after she beat 18th seed Li Na.
Williams’ serve played a significant part in her victory as she hit seven aces and finishing with an 86 per cent first serve success.
The American is now relishing a showdown with the returning Clijsters, who made her comeback after more than two years in retirement.
“She is such a great person and I only wish the best for her – though not in the next match of course,” Williams said after disposing of Pennetta.
“It’ll be a great match. She has nothing to lose and is having so much fun, which makes me so happy. Initially I was surprised how well she’s been doing but she did so well a couple of weeks ago that I knew she was someone to look out for.”
For the second year running, Leander Paes, has made it through to two doubles finals. There is something about Arthur Ashe Stadium that brings out the A Game in Paes and on day 10 of the hardcourt major, he punched away a volley to secure a 6-4 3-6 7-6 win with his partner Lukas Dlouhy to knock out top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan.
“This crowd is just magic, I hope you show up again,” the 36-year-old Paes said after raising his fists in celebration.
He won less than 24 hours after reaching the mixed doubles showpiece with Zimbabwean Cara Black. Twelve months ago Paes suffered mixed fortunes in the finals when he and Black went on to pick up the trophy but he faltered with Dlouhy in the mens doubles showpiece. Yesterday, the Indo-Czech pair steamed to a 5-1 lead in the deciding tiebreak only to see the Americans wipe away the advantage.
After watching five match points vanish, Paes made no mistake on the sixth and left the Bryan twins flat-footed as he sent a volley flying through the middle of the court. “Last year we were in the final and we are still going this great year,” said the 26-year-old Dlouhy, who won his first doubles crown with Paes at the French Open in June.
Meanwhile, the tournament director Jim Curley has promised to increase security for players after a fan rushed at Rafael Nadal who had just defeated Gael Monfils to reach the quarter-finals and was changing shirts when a man with a camera jumped over an advertising hoarding and onto the court and kissed the smiling Spaniard on the cheek.
Nadal appeared unperturbed by the incident as security guards quickly pounced on the man and led him away. The fan was charged yesterday with interfering with a sporting event and faces up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine for criminal trespassing
It was the second such incident this year at a grand slam event after a fan got on the court at Roland Garros during the French Open final in June, and got close to Roger Federer. Again, the man appeared harmless, waving a flag and trying to place a hat on the world number one’s head, but the intrusion brought back memories of a 1993 attack on Monica Seles in Hamburg when the world number one was stabbed in the back by an obsessed Steffi Graf fan.
MIXED DOUBLES: Semi-final: Carly Gullickson (USA) and Travis Parrott (USA) bt (1) Liezel Huber (USA) and Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) 6-3 6-4.
MEN’S DOUBLES: Quarter-final: (5) Max Mirnyi (Blr) and Andy Ram (Isr) bt (2) Daniel Nestor (Can) and Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-0. Semi-final: (4) Lukas Dlouhy (Cze) and Leander Paes (Ind) bt (1) Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6) .
MEN’S SINGLES: Fourth round: (11) Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt (7) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.
WOMEN’S SINGLES: Quarter-finals: (2) Serena Williams (USA) bt (10) Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 6-4 6-3; Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr) 7-5 6-4.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES: Quarter-finals: (1) Cara Black (Zim) and Liezel Huber (USA) bt (6) Nuria Llagostera Vives (Spa) and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spa) 6-3 2-6 7-5; (4) Serena Williams (USA) and Venus Williams (USA) bt (11) Zi Yan (Chn) and Jie Zheng (Chn) 7-5 6-4.
